


Cowards

by hottestmyday



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, taeten - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 09:53:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15628164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hottestmyday/pseuds/hottestmyday
Summary: A Taeten officemate au where Ten has this huge crush on Taeyong but he never had the courage to confess his feelings to him.----Read "Cowards[Extended Version] - A Taeten office AU" on my works for a more detailed version of this. To find out what happened after this, you should read that one instead. :)





	Cowards

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my very first fanfic. Maybe not but my first posted fanfic. I tried. Let me know your thoughts, maybe?

Title: Cowards  
Pairing: Taeten / Johnten / Jaeyong

 

Taeyong was a beauty Ten could never take his eyes off from. Ten could remember when he first saw Taeyong. It was when he was hired in their company. Taeyong was his senior in their office for a month or two. He was at his boss’s office and Taeyong was called in to help and assist him as the newly hired marketing assistant. Soon enough, they were partnered for a project.

Taeyong had this smile which would melt Ten’s heart every single time he flashes them to him. His hair? Oh how Ten would love to run his hand along with it. Perhaps it was Taeyong’s cooking skills which made the younger guy fall for him whenever he would bring home cooked meal for lunch and share it with Ten. Or was it Taeyong’s personality? Ten wasn’t sure exactly when he started to fall for the older. Sure, he found him cute right after he saw him walked inside their boss’s office. He just didn’t notice that he was slowly falling until it started hurting.

He could still remember how happy they were when their boss praised their work. How could he not? They were so happy that they hugged each other. It wasn’t him who hugged him first. It was Taeyong. He was so surprised that it took him a couple of seconds before returning back the hug. Boy, he found an excuse to actually hug his crush—something he had been wanting to do for months.

The older guy even invited him out for a celebratory dinner after office hours. It was a simple dinner at a restaurant near their office. Then he jokingly suggested for a late night karaoke. It was Friday night after all. He wasn’t expecting for Taeyong to agree right away. He was already preparing himself for a rejection—an alibi from the older. He was expecting for him to say that they should do it next time along with their other office mates. That wasn’t the case. He agreed even if it was just the two of them.

It was Ten’s happiest night. For him, it was a date. He doesn’t have the courage to say that to Taeyong. He couldn’t even joke about it. He was too afraid the other would reject it even if it was supposed to be a ‘joke’. He might not be able to control his emotions and probably cry if he gets rejected by him. Even after a few bottles of soju, he couldn’t bring himself to confess. Probably he was afraid of losing him as a friend or just the thought of him being rejected by the other made him had his tongue all tied and twisted.

He was always the confident one. Sure, he dated before but he was never this coward. He wasn’t afraid of rejections or at least until he met Taeyong. He couldn’t fathom the idea of being away from him. He was afraid that Taeyong would be awkward to him after his confession and he would ignore him. Just the thought of it breaks his heart.

What made him the happiest that night wasn’t just because he was able to spend it with Taeyong. It was because of what happened when they were drunk. He wasn’t that drunk to the point where he couldn’t remember anything. Oh God. He would probably hate himself if he would forget about that night.

It was the night when he had to assist Taeyong back to his apartment. The older guy was way too drunk that he couldn’t walk straight. He couldn’t even stand up without Ten’s help. Ten could still remember how his heart was beating wildly when he took Taeyong to his bed. He thought his heart stopped or that he was dreaming when Taeyong pulled him closer as he was laying the older man down. All of a second, Taeyong kissed him. Of course, he kissed him back. Seconds later, he pulled out from the kiss. Ten realized he shouldn’t be taking advantage of Taeyong’s drunken state. Instead, he just smiled at him and told him to sleep. He then took off the older man’s shoes and covered him a blanket. Then he quickly left and went back to his own apartment. He was probably giggling and smiling too much for his own good that night.

Monday after that, Ten wasn’t sure if he was the drunk one that night. Was the kiss just a dream of his? He was sure Taeyong’s soft lips were on his that night but why is Taeyong acting as if nothing happened? Could he be that drunk that he couldn’t remember anything? It slightly broke Ten’s heart. He thought it was a progress but no, he was back to where he was just before that day. He was just a mere co-worker. He was just a partner on a project—not his partner in life.

To make things even worse for Ten, both of them had been teamed up with another. Taeyong was assigned to the newly hired one. Ten felt jealous but he had to hide it. It was how he had gotten close with Taeyong after all. So when Jaehyun, the new guy, was partnered with Taeyong, Ten felt a pang of pain. And maybe, just maybe anxiety of Taeyong falling for Jaehyun’s charms.

Ten was partnered with Johnny, another senior of his. Johnny was that cool guy Ten made friends with. He didn’t have a hard time working with Johnny. They clicked as if he found a brother in their office. Johnny was like a brother to Ten.

“They’ll melt if you keep on looking at the couple that way,” Johnny told Ten, distracting him from his trail of thoughts, as he sat beside him on the bench. Ten didn’t notice how he was tightly holding his pen as he watch Taeyong and Jaehyun from across the room. As much as he would love to look away from the two, he just couldn’t take his eyes off the older guy. “Also you might break your pen into two if you keep that up.”

 

“Oh. I—” Ten immediately looked away from the two and started fiddling with his pen instead.

“Ten, how many projects have we worked on together?” Johnny asked as he casually placed an arm around the younger’s shoulder. “I know you, okay? You can’t deny to me. I know you’re gay. We both are.”

Ten looked up at the older raising an eyebrow at him.

“Look, you can never deny to me that you like Taeyong.”

“B-but I d-don’t?”

“Even before Jaehyun came, I could notice how you two were all over each other,” Johnny smiled as he ruffled Ten’s hair. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t staring at Jaehyun. It’s definitely Taeyong.”

Ten just sighed. How could he deny when Johnny could read him that much? He had been Johnny’s partner longer than when he was partnered with Taeyong. They had worked on multiple projects. He wasn’t just an officemate. Johnny became a brother to him.

“You won’t deny now?”

“What’s the point of denying it?”

“Exactly,” Johnny agreed. “Friendly advice? Let’s stop watching them. It’s heartbreaking.”

“At least not for you.” Ten answered making a face at Johnny.

“Sure, I don’t have a crush on your crush but...” Johnny paused making Ten realize what he was pointing out.

“You like J.” Ten stated still unsure whether his assumption was correct. He didn’t have to wait for Johnny’s answer because the sudden redness of his ears confirmed it.

Johnny just cleared his throat and stood up. “Office hours is over. We’re done with our workload. How about we just grab a few beer before going home to...ease the pain?”

“Your treat?”

“Fine, my treat.”

“Yes!” Ten excitedly said as he stood up. How could he decline an offer of free drinks? Anything that is free shouldn’t be declined. 

He followed Johnny back to their tables to get their things without looking back. There was no point in looking back anyway. His excitement for free drinks will just die down when he sees Taeyong smiling fondly at Jaehyun. It already hurts and he doesn’t want to feel more of it.

Little did they know two pairs of eyes were watching them intently. 

“Is T-Ten really with Johnny now? I-is that what you heard?” Taeyong asked as he watched the two walked away excitedly. It broke his heart seeing how Johnny could just place his arms around Ten. He wanted to remove it every single time Johnny would do that but of course he couldn’t. He doesn’t have any right to do so anyway. Ten was not his. He was “never his and probably never will be.

“I surely hope Doyoung was wrong about that,” Jaehyun sighed. “Why do you keep on asking me for advices when you could have confessed straight to Ten months ago?”

“I—I” Taeyong was lost for words. He could have done it. Heck, he had that courage to pull Ten and kiss him that night. He just didn’t have enough courage to talk to him about it afterwards. He was afraid to hear Ten say that he couldn’t see him more than just a friend. When Ten pulled out from the kiss and told him to just sleep, he has gotten more afraid to tell the younger about his feelings.

“You’re a coward.” Jaehyun sighed as he looked at his friend. 

“But God, Jaehyun,” Taeyong cried, tears brimming in his eyes. “I love him. I love Ten. I love him.”

“I know,” Jaehyun patted the older on his back in an attempt to comfort him. He wished he could do something about his friend’s heart break. He wished his boyfriend was wrong about Johnny and Ten being together. “I know.”


End file.
